“And yet here we are.”
The man who murmurs it is arguably the most attractive of the bunch. Older, with a distinct air ofmurderaround him that I always find appealing. Plus, there’s a Russian or something similar accent tinging his words that would normally set my fucking panties on fire. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seduced someone over a corpse. Colm wasn’t either. But this time, I don’t want to.
I want to get what I came for and go back to my bland ham sandwich gangster. This man is clearly more of a decadent black forest gateau. Apparently, that’s not to my taste anymore.
“Fair one. But I do love a good dead body. Did you know that badgers are known to cache or store dead animals to consume them later? Once I’ve racked up a couple, we could cache them together for later. You know about badgers, right? They get hungry, apparently.”
A little nervousness is edging into my mind. I need to make some progress. I’m not always nervous when I ramble, but it definitely helps, so these guys better help me soon if they don’t want to hear any more interesting facts.
“Why the fuck do we need to know that?” one of them asks.
I shrug. Clearly this conversation is their fault.
“Just call me a badger then. Not that I want to eat this man, I wouldn’t go that far, but a little decay goes a long way.”
“What the fuck are you trying to say?” the tallest one snaps at me.
“Let me help. They say there is security here, that they have cameras, but they don’t. It’s a lie.”
It is quite literally the only useful thing I’ve discovered during my exploration.
“Why the fuck should we let you help us?” he asks.
“The fucks who run this place deserve everything they get. Have you seen what they do to the girls in the club?”
I’m about to start explaining the human trafficking thing when the tall one sighs and they all seem to relent.
“Fine. You can help as long as you don’t mind getting tangled up in whatever this is.”
“Oh, but I do. I love a good tangle. Especially with the right kind of people.”
I wait for them to tell me who the fuck they are or who the dead guy is, but all I get is a stony silence. The Russian one has been getting thornier by the second, and now he looks like he’s ready to explode with impatience. I feel the same way, to be honest, I’m just much better at hiding it.
I hope Colm is getting the information he needs. This is the first time we’ve been apart for more than a few minutes in what? A week? It feels fucking weird.
The redheaded beefcake holds out his hand to me. Clearly, he’s the nice one, but no thank you.
“Hey, thanks for being so cool about this. I’m Kit. Nice to meet you.”
I shake my head.
“No, thank you. I don’t shake hands, but nice to meet you all the same. Now what areyoudoing here? Besides hiding bodies.”
They look at each other while the tall one struggles to shove the body into some sort of closet.
“We are looking for a man who was taken just minutes ago. Have you seen anything suspicious?”
The Russian one’s voice is deep and growly, and I’m still a little distracted by how utterly uninterested I am in getting him to fuck me.
“Oh, all sorts,” I say. “This place is disgusting. And I have very low standards so that’s saying something. But funnily enough, I too am looking for someone who is missing. How fortuitous that we meet in this place doing the same thing.”
“Who are you looking for?” Kit asks.
They all look at me expectantly. It’s now or never, I guess. I won’t find out if they know anything unless I tell them the truth. I can always kill them later if it’s necessary.
“My sister. She used to work here and now she’s missing,” I say.
“Does your sister have a name?” Kit asks, tension thickening between the group for some reason.
